This week, House lawmakers remained in their home districts for the final week of the August recess. Meanwhile, The Senior Citizens League saw support grow for one key bill that would increase competition in the pharmaceutical industry and improve access to affordable prescription drugs..Another major piece of legislation that Congress is working on, one which has been passed and been signed into law by whomever has been President for the past 59 years, is the National Defense Authorization Act. As we explained last week, that's the annual bill that authorizes the pay for members of the U.S. military as well as other important issues dealing with the Department of Defense..While you should check with a professional financial advisor, you and your husband still have the right to claim spousal benefits only, when you turn 6Under the new law changes, while you couldn't apply for spousal benefits, based on a suspended application, your husband can apply for spousal benefits based on your full retirement age benefit, using a restricted application while his own benefit continues to grow. He would receive half of your benefit, or about 5 per month, until he claims his own retirement benefit. Together the two of you would receive ,215 per month, which is better than the ,150 you alone were hoping to get as a spousal benefit. Then, when he turns 70, he can claim his full benefit of about ,100 per month..There are other reasons why your dad might have received that bill. While Medicare Advantage enrollees would not have to pay cost sharing due to COVID-19, they might if hospitalized due to other reasons, such as heart attack or kidney failure. You may need to call your dad's health plan and find out how the reason for hospitalization is described on the bill..On Thursday, the Ways and Means Committee held a long overdue hearing on the Social Security 2100 Act. The bill was introduced by Congressman John Larson in January of this year. A companion bill was introduced in the Senator by Senator Richard Blumenthal. If adopted these bills would strengthen and reform Social Security by providing beneficiaries with a 2 percent benefit increase, would base the cost-of-living on the CPI-E, create a new minimum benefit set 125 percent of the poverty line and cut taxes for beneficiaries. Increase costs to the program would be paid for my applying the payroll tax to income over 400,000 and gradually increase the payroll tax rate to 7.4 percent..There is real concern that many people who are treated for the coronavirus could end up with surprise medical bills. Because of that Democrats want to make health-care services free to people who contract the new coronavirus. If treatment were free, those with the virus wouldn't have to fear surprise medical bills. That would, of course, still leave unsolved the issue of surprise billing for other types of treatments..Representatives Donna E. Shalala, Phil Roe, M.D., Ann McLane Kuster, and Larry Bucshon M.D. have introduced legislation to eliminate out-of-pocket costs for vaccines to everyone under Medicare. Currently, Medicare vaccine coverage is split between Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D. Seniors can access vaccines covered under Part B - such as flu, pneumonia and Hepatitis - with no out-of-pocket costs. However, under Part D, vaccines such as shingles and pertussis often include a cost to beneficiaries..In the months ahead, The Senior Citizens League will continue to advocate tirelessly for the bipartisan Seniors Have Eyes, Ears, and Teeth Act, and we hope to see it signed into law before the 115th Congress comes to a close at the end of this year. In the meantime, we encourage our supporters to contact their elected officials to request their support for H.R. 50For contact information, visit our website at. There, you can also share your story with The Senior Citizens League and tell us how you would benefit from the passage of the Seniors Have Eyes, Ears, and Teeth Act..Despite opposition to the AHCA from many in Washington including TSCL the House Budget Committee advanced the bill on Thursday with a vote of 19-1It now moves to the House Rules Committee, and leaders in Congress are predicting votes on the House floor could occur as early as next week. In the Senate, votes are expected before the holiday recess begins on April 7th.
